Hours after Jai Opetaia said he would be defending his IBF cruiserweight title against Brandon Glanton on Sunday while also competing for the inaugural Zuffa Boxing Championship, the IBF announced that it will no longer sanction the title defense.
The IBF, in a statement Friday night, said it withdrew its sanctioning of the fight after being misled that Zuffa’s championship would be little more than an item that was “characterized as a trophy or token of recognition.”
At a news conference earlier Friday in Las Vegas, Opetaia had said that the IBF and Zuffa Boxing titles would be on the line, which would be considered a unification bout.
However, Zuffa Boxing is not a sanctioning body that is recognized by the IBF and does not “comply with the same mandated regulations followed by the organization.”
“An Unsanctioned Contest is a fight which the IBF has not formally approved for sanction or where sanction has been formally withdrawn,” the IBF’s statement read. “If a Champion participates in an unsanctioned contest within his prescribed weight limit, the title will be declared vacant whether the Champion wins or loses the bout.”
Should Opetaia proceed with the fight, he will be stripped of the title for a second time; the first occurred in 2023, when he fought Ellis Zorro instead of his mandatory opponent, Mairis Briedis.
Opetaia signed with Zuffa Boxing in January, with the intention of pursuing undisputed status while also fighting for its inaugural title.
“We just want to be undisputed and then go and hang out with our families,” Opetaia said in a recent interview with ESPN. “This is undisputed we’re talking about. If we’re not here to be undisputed in this game, then what are we doing?”
